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Monday, April 27, 2009

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter P

This is Patrick & me in Prescott, Arizona, before we got all our gray hairs!
This is my cousin Sheila & her hubby Mike's pet Hunter. He's undergoing chemo and has another round on April 30th. Patrick visited them all while in Houston last week. Would you pray for Hunter? Thanks.
Here is an old picture of Pat with pets Baby Rocket Dog and Chuck the Cat.
Pets Baby Rocket Dog and Chuck the Cat in 2007. Our pet Chuck the Cat was so pretty and very talented, but he had very real issues.
Pat and pets.

A funny picture of our newest pet, Hootie---he turns 1 yr. old May 6th!

Pet pooches Baby Rocket Dog & Hootie.

Patrick and pooch.

The End

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For more A to Z Mondays go visit our pal, Jen, at unglazed.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Our Finished Pots....

This little table was my first mosaic project. It took 3 - 3 hour classes.
Gail grouting her pot.

My pot.

Gail's pot.

Our pots after grouting. We had to wait a day or so to wipe off better.

Here's my pot all cleaned up!

If you are in the Phoenix area why not stop in at D & D Tile and see their show room!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Yom HaShoah ~ יום השואה

This is in place of my usual A to Z Monday.

Genesis 12:3 -4 (NAS Bible) "And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Monday was the Holocaust Day of Remembrance.

Yom HaShoah ~ יום השואה

Saturday, April 18, 2009

I Miss You ...

My Dad, Leslie Wayne Miller, Sr., May 3,1922 - April 21, 1994
The photo of Daddy (above) is one of my very favorites. It is cropped out from the fishing picture that you will see later in this post. My mom says this was when he was fat, but I don't think he looked fat at all, just a little tummy. He never was muscular.

Here's a photo of my mother and father in Pennsylvania, December 29th, 1992. It was taken at The Red Fox Restaurant, which I believe is no longer around.
We were visiting in PA & I snuck in while Daddy was taking a nap (Dec.1990) and snapped this photo. He would be mortified that I'm posting this. He he he, gotcha, Pop!
Daddy played the violin, and was so pleased that Jessica took up the violin also. This was in December 1990 and it was so funny listening to the two of them go back and forth about the way some piece was to be played. She would say,"That's not the way my teacher told me to do it, PopPop." She asked my dad if she could have his favorite violin with the mother of pearl inlays and he said no. It wasn't his best violin, but it was her favorite because it was pretty. When we got back to Arizona and she opened up her violin case she was absolutely shocked and thrilled to see that he had replaced the ugly violin with his pretty one. Way to go PopPop!!
This is Daddy, Uncle Charlie (Dad's 1st cousin & best friend) and their fishing guide in Key West, Florida, ca.1960's

This is Daddy in one of their parlours in PA, December 1992

Jessica & PopPop cheesing it up in August 1993 at The Red Fox Restaurant.

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Patrick, Jessica and I had gone to PA to have a surprise 50th Anniversary dinner for my parents at my Aunt Dot's home. It was just a small gathering with Daddy & Mom, Aunt Dot and Aunt Sis, Andrea (my brother's little girl),Patrick, Jessica and me. Aunt Dot and I planned it for July 30th and Aunt Dot prepared the scrumptious dinner. Aunt Dot wasn't a blood relative, but was my mom's best and only true friend and was one of the kindest, sweetest, funniest ladies that walked the earth (more on her in a future post). We flew in from Arizona and pretended nothing was up, and we were just going to go to Auntie's for dinner after work. Boy were my folks surprised. Both of them got tears in their eyes and I could tell Daddy (who was the sociable one of the pair) was very pleased that we celebrated this with them, despite the fact that Mom kept saying she didn't want any kind of a fuss made over them. Since their actual anniversary was in September, they had no clue what we had planned.

What you can't see in this 50th Anniversary shot, is that my mom is wearing red and white checked culottes and dark knee socks! Dad was dressed in dress slacks and dress shoes, his usual "uniform". Two people could not have been more opposite! He thoroughly enjoyed his leisure time, hunting and had an amazing sense of humor. I can still hear him chuckling. He also was sarcastic and that dear friends, is where I get it from. Mom on the other hand works almost every waking hour and stopped hunting with Daddy as soon as Harley, my sister, was old enough to accompany him and takes things quite seriously. She is one of those people you have to explain a joke to....no kidding. What a pair!

August 1993. This was the last time I saw my dad as I knew him. We all said our goodbyes before driving to Elmira to the airport and as Patrick was getting ready to drive off Daddy had made his way back up to the side porch and took a seat. I jumped out of the car and snapped this picture. He loved to sit on his porch and look at his view. Lots of grass, trees and NE Pennsylvania scenery. He loved his town and his family. It's a shame that my sister, brother and I are not close. He would have wanted us to be.

Easter was April 3rd in 1994. Dad had been in the Towanda hospital for a week or so before that for his diabetes and had fallen while there. He ended up with 4 broken ribs, but though in pain (& he was a big sissy) he insisted that he be allowed to go home for Easter. And he did. Mom made her traditional ham and kielbasa and he was a happy man. A week later he lay on the floor of their home from a massive stroke. My mom called the ambulance and he was taken to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, PA.

When I was called and told that Dad had had the stroke my brother and Mom said not to come back to PA that he would be okay. A week later they still weren't putting Daddy on the phone for me, so I knew they weren't being honest with me. My good friends Bobbi and Maxie told me to fly home & worry about the expense later, or I would forever regret it. I was flying back & called my older sister, Harley, in California and told her what I was doing & she said she would do the same. Well, I got to spend 5 days in 15 minute increments with my father(the stroke caused aphasia) who was in ICU. Each day I would tell him how his beloved English Springer missed him, give him a weather report, tell him what was going on in the news (he would have 3 tv's on at the same time with different news stations at home) read to him out of the Bible and before I left I would sing him the Barocha*. I got some alone time with him, and as the Lord would have it, my brother was away in Atlanta, so the stress of having to deal with him was not there. It was a special time with my dad. When Mom and Harley were chattering over him like he was a table I could hardly contain my anger, but I did. Daddy was a man of few words, and he detested idle talk, so I knew if he could talk he would have shut them up! So, once we drove the 40 miles back to their house, I told the gals how disrespectful they were being, that he couldn't talk, but that didn't mean he couldn't hear. They agreed to discuss gossip outside of Daddy's room.

He passed away when we had left the hospital for an hour on April 21st. It has been 15 years on Tuesday, and I still miss him. Still miss calling him in the middle of the day to ask his advise on something or just for no reason other than to tell him I loved him. Still miss his Sunday phone calls. Like clockwork he would call every Sunday to see how everything was going. (Mom has probably called me 5 times in the past 15 years---now it is up to me to call and I'm not an every week caller.) Anyway, the world is a little less colorful without my dad in it. I sure loved him.

Rest in peace Daddy. I'll see you when I get to heaven. That's a promise.

*Barocha. The Lord bless you and keep you.The Lord make His face shine upon you. And give you peace.The Lord be gracious to you. The Lord turn His face towards you. And give you peace forever.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

A Few Stolen Things...

This pie chart was on one of my favorite, newsy blogs written by the Rev. Paul at Way Up North. He & his wife and children live in Anchorage, Alaska so he reports on life in our 49th state, as well as some political commentary and the occasional funny. (He also posts cool pictures!) Here is Paul's pie chart:

Okay, now to make this my own I would exchange the sleeping segment for the eating segment. Perhaps make the working segment about half the size and label the new segment "blogging". I'd leave the largest segment the same, as that is very accurate for where I am presently. Graph completed and now reflects me!

For my next stolen item I would like to introduce you to Martha and Bailey the Bassets from Martha and Bailey's Blog. This gorgeous photo of the Bassets in the daffodils was on their post dated April 14th. That same post had a lovely slide show of Loch Lomond. If you click on their names above, it'll take you to their blog. Check it out and tell them BabyRocketDog and Hootie's mom sent you.he he.

Well, that's all I've stolen for you today. I hope you get on over to my friend's blogs sometime soon.

Blessings to all who read this.

love, Cassie

Monday, April 13, 2009

A to Z Monday ~ The Letter N

Navy Seals - Our Heros!
When Somali pirates terrorize sea vessels they usually get away with it. Not this time. Cargo ship Maersk Capt. Richard Phillips (no relation!) was free Sunday after being taken hostage by the Somali thugs. That, thanks to ace Navy snipers, who killed 3 of the pirates, each with a single shot. Way to go Navy Seals!!
For more A to Z Mondays check out Jen's blog.
God bless America and Especially, God bless YOU!!
love, Cassie

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy, happy, happy...

Because HE lives!

Happy Resurrection Sunday! And to our Jewish friends, Happy Pesach!

Monday, April 6, 2009

More On Mom ~ The Letter M

Back by popular demand, I have put the post I did on my mother, Rosie ~ The Pearl of Poland on my side bar. Just go to the left and under "My Mom ~ RoseMarie" click the date Oct.9th, 2008.

A to Z Mondays ~ The Letter M

Enough said!
For more A to Z Mondays visit Jen's blog.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Cassie & Gail Making Mosaic Flower Pots

Click picture to enlarge.
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My friend Gail had her big 6-0 Birthday on March 14th. Her gift from me was a flowerpot mosaic class at D & D Tile* in Central Phoenix. I made the arrangements for us to get together to make our pots for today. We started at 1045am and had completed all but the grouting by 115pm. Yvonne from the tile showroom gave us instructions on how to use the tools and she checked up on us to make sure we were doing okay. Usually when Gail and I get together we go out to eat and sit and talk around food for 3 hours. This time we were using our hands for something other than feeding our faces and the end results were very satisfying too! We'll get together in a few weeks (after Passover & Easter) and have a grouting party to finish up our pots. Yvonne said this should only take about an hour. I'll post a picture of our finished pots then. I bet you can hardly wait! Hope you all are having a good day.
Blessings on your heads! love, Cassie
*Some of you have commented on the porcelain tile in our condo. D & D Tile is who laid that for us. I've done a couple small mosaic projects with them since then.